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'Today, Tokyo is rattled but starting its return to normal'

First-hand account of quake from Province staffer

I was on the second floor of a small department store in downtown Tokyo in the Ueno area when the first earthquake hit. The building started to rattle just slightly at first, but soon became more of a violent side-to-side shaking which felt somewhat like I was standing in a moving train.

The shop was pretty busy and people began to quickly make their way to the exit stairwell. I followed suit and made my way out of the building and into the busy street below. There were many people outside, as it was a busy area of Tokyo at 2:46 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. My family and I proceeded to the middle of the road, trying to stand as far away from the tall buildings towering above, jammed so close together.

All traffic came to a halt with a long line of people standing in the middle of the street between the lanes of cars. Everyone was looking up at the buildings, watching the swaying street poles and power lines above. A few buildings were swaying and wobbling as if it was made of rubber. The ground was still shaking, and it felt as if I were sea sick, like I was walking on a boat in stormy waters. The shaking lasted for three to four straight minutes.

I later learned it was the massive 8.9 magnitude quake that hit off the coast of the city of Sendai, in Miyage prefecture which is northeast of Tokyo.

Everybody remained relatively calm but we knew we were all scared. People standing nearby were all saying that this is the first time to experience such a big quake. Small earthquakes are quite common in Japan, even in Tokyo, and this one really rattled the locals. Even a grandfatherly man nearby said this was the biggest one of his life.

Cellphones stopped working almost immediately. The networks were overloaded and people were rushing to the public pay phones. Huge lineups started to form to use these neglected pay phones, these things from the past. It was quite profound to realize that modern technology will fail you in times of crisis, and you must go back to more traditional means of communication.

We decided to head toward home through nearby Ueno Park. Many people had gathered in the large park which really provided a sanctuary, an open space in the city. I felt much safer there and really realized how trapped I felt in a hugely populated city like Tokyo with very few places to go to get away from the crammed city buildings.

Two more quakes hit while we were walking — the second hit about half an hour after the first, and was recorded at 7.4 magnitude, and a third at 4:29 p.m., a 6.6. So many aftershocks continued through the evening and overnight. I am still feeling them as I write this.

I feel incredibly lucky. My family and I are safe and we were together when the earthquakes hit. We were also nearby one of the largest parks in the city where we could walk through to get home and feel a sense of safety.

Over a million people are currently without water and 4.4 million houses are out of power. Major tsunami warnings are still in effect, massive waves which have washed away towns and wiped out a few of the coastal cities.

In Tokyo, the entire rail system shut down, leaving thousands of people stranded overnight at work and at train stations. This is a city that relies heavily on public transportation, especially Japanese Rail.

The worst is in the Iwate, Miyage and Fukushima prefectures, northeast of Tokyo. Those killed and still remain missing are currently predicted in the range of 1300 people, while the death toll is expected to rise.

There is still a major aftershock expected within the month, one with a magnitude in the range of 7.0 which will possibly create another massive tsunami.

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